Tag Archives: Beauty and the Beast (ballet)

reviewed at the Rhodes Arts Complex on 22 October

Ballet Theatre UK has developed an important niche – bringing classical ballet with fresh choreographic and production values to smaller venues. These are not cut-down versions of the repertoire classics but full-scale dance-dramas in their own right.

Take the latest production, Christopher Moore’s Beauty and the Beast. It’s a familiar story which we know best in its 18th century French origin or through Christmas pantomimes. As with so many well-love “fairy tales”, it also echoes classical myths.

Costume designers Daniel Hope and Val Plant use a Fragonard-derived palette for Beauty and her greedy sisters, while the Beast, the Enchantress and their entourages are burnished in bronze and gold. Martyn Plant’s set is simple – screens consisting of rose-entwined coils of silver, like the decoration of a Book of Hours.

A chair or a chest are the sole items of furniture and do not distract from the dancing. Moore’s choreography gives his cast opportunities to shine. The dancers respond with neat, precise footwork and jumps as well as the discipline needed to create floor patterns – not that easy to maintain given the variety of venue stages.

Some of the lifts in the performance which I saw looked awkward, and not every tour en l’air finished as cleanly as intended. The story allows for dance-classic and realistic mime with the Enchantress (Ana Caroline Feerer) every bit as imperious as Giselle‘s Myrtha and the Father allocated a pas de seul as well as acting and ensemble opportunities.

As the heroine, Erin Flaherty displays a good technique and conveys the range of emotions demanded by this principled girl, from her hero-worship of and dependence on her Father through her acceptance of the responsibilities forced on her through the theft of the Beast’s rose.

Ben Crossley Pritchard makes the Beast into a truly tormented soul, with his dual royal and animal instincts constantly warring within him. He is a supportive partner with a flair for solo scenes. The pre-recorded choice of music, drawn largely from Dvořák’s suites, fits the story admirably.

This year (2018) Ballet Theatre UK is celebrating ten years of performance. Its young dancers continue to show commitment and a sense of style. They are also cultivating the art of drawing audience’s into the world of classical ballet, with the display never outweighing the art.